Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fire escape devices. More particularly, this invention relates to an escape device which enables a person to descend from a building via a cable or other flexible member.
Presently, there exist numerous fire escape devices which enable a person to escape from a multi-story building or the like. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,879,016 and 3,907,256 issued to Kankkunen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,590 issued to Bech et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 2,502,896 issued to Sherbrook et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 849,221 issued to Engel; U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,528 issued to Virkki; U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,910 issued to Koshihara; U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,298 issued to Lassche; U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,989 issued to Tsuda; U.S. Pat. No. 4,000,881 issued to Matsumoto; U.S. Pat. No. 514,094 issued to Roper; U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,263 issued to Chin; U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,332 issued to DuLondel; U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,423 issued to Belew; U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,033; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,090 issued to Holley disclose various types of fire escape devices presently known in the trade. One major disadvantage to the majority of such devices, is the requirement of manual exertion to control the weight at which the cable is released from the winding drum, and hence, the rate at which the escaping person descends to the ground. Various hydraulic mechanism are taught which teach the use of a reverse acting hydraulic pump and meter mechanisms which controls the rate of descent.